Also on the high-priced side is Hewlett-Packard's Z800 workstation, which can be outfitted with NVIDA's new Maximus technology for top-line performance. Maximus marries NVIDIA's Quadro professional GPU line with the Tesla computational engine, essentially bringing HPC capabilities to a workstation platform.

I think the president's recent SOTU message and all the talk about the need to promote STEM education just highlights how much opportunity there is for engineers, yet how important staying trained on the latest technologies is to American's future.

Good point. Add to that the fact that every time I take a look at the unemployement percentages and wanted adds I see opportunities for engineers. I think young people reading this should feel pretty positive about the chances of finding a job come May. However, don't let that keep you from learning a new skill or two.

A tax refund and the President's State of the Union address last night where he talked up American innovation and keyed in on what needs to be done in terms of jobs reskilling could be just the right impetus for someone to decide to outfit themselves with the latest technology, hoping to better position themselves to solve some of these pressing engineering-related challenges.

And if one didn't get what they want for Christmas, a well timed tax refund could be easily invested in one of these little gems to improve ones' performance. I do love to hear about the new cool stuff.

Point taken, William. I know a lot of the stuff on the list was pricer and most likely beyond the budgets of most people buying for CAD jockeys. I was really looking to have some fun highlighting some of the cooler, abeit, pricey technologies that are out there that might impact the design process.

While SolidWorks 2012 is undoubtedly a great version and a good value, it is a bit to expensive to be in most folks gift giving lists. It took a lot of selling to get an employer to purchase it, and they did make quite a point about how expensive it was. Of course, that organization was also cheap on pens and paper, so it was to be expected, I suppose.

Well done guide. I didn't get any of these for Christmas, though if I had a choice I'd pick the Planar's SD2620W stereoscopic LCD wide-screen display. There's more good stuff (that I also didn't get) in the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show Preview Slideshow.

I like the continuing effort to bring more and more to the CAD users. And as the market understands which of these higher priced solutions are being purchased I think the industry identifies which solution they can bring down in price for the more conservative engineers. Let's face it, some companies won't spend $300 on a fancy mouse but a dedicated designer might spend $100 on himself if it will make his job easier.

Absolutely, cloud providers have a secure infrastructure that few companies, especially smaller ones, can rival. It's more a matter of getting familiar with the model and feeling comfortable. Some companies, particularly those in highly regulated industries like health care and finance, also have restrictions on where data can reside, thus the multi-tenant nature of cloud services and the fact they have no control over where and what servers are processing rules out the model for them.

You're right about performance being an issue. Somebody else's system can go down leaving you stuck. I've seen that before. Yet in sales situation, I've heard cloud people start asking questions about the security and reliability of the in-house system, with questions such as "Tell us about your firewall." And of course, the customer has nothing compared to what the cloud company can offer.

Virtual Reality (VR) headsets are getting ready to explode onto the market and it appears all the heavy tech companies are trying to out-develop one another with better features than their competition. Fledgling start-up Vrvana has joined the fray.

A Tokyo company, Miraisens Inc., has unveiled a device that allows users to move virtual 3D objects around and "feel" them via a vibration sensor. The device has many applications within the gaming, medical, and 3D-printing industries.

While every company might have their own solution for PLM, Aras Innovator 10 intends to make PLM easier for all company sizes through its customization. The program is also not resource intensive, which allows it to be appropriated for any use. Some have even linked it to the Raspberry Pi.

solidThinking updated its Inspire program with a multitude of features to expedite the conception and prototype process. The latest version lets users blend design with engineering and manufacturing constraints to produce the cheapest, most efficient design before production.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.